BALLANCE TAKES BREAK FOR PERSONAL REASONS
GARY BALLANCE has been granted indefinite leave by Yorkshire for personal reasons. Ballance, an unused Ashes tourist last winter, was not included in the 13-man squad for yesterday’s Royal London One-Day Cup match at Durham, with the captaincy passing to Steven Patterson. Last week England captain Joe Root took charge when Ballance returned north on the eve of the County Championship defeat by Surrey at The Oval. Yorkshire put his absence down to illness. A Yorkshire statement said: ‘Gary Ballance is set to miss several One-Day Cup games after the club gave him some time away from the game due to personal reasons. We ask for his privacy to be respected during this time.’ It has been a tough few months for Ballance after he failed to re-establish himself for England after being recalled last year. However Ballance, 28, has remained a model of consistency for Yorkshire, scoring 951 runs at 67.9 in last year’s Championship. He began this season with 82 in the win over Notts but managed a combined 55 in his other five innings.